Episode 1164: The Names of the Game
Date January 18, 2018 Summary Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan answer listener emails about rebuilding teams absorbing bad contracts, bad teams signing good players, an MLB amnesty clause, fans switching team allegiances, pitchers wearing jackets on the bases, how to maximize playing time with a limited number of hits, baseball on an Olympian schedule, how catchers could transition to a world with robot umps, and the effect of facing two pitchers simultaneously, plus a trio of Stat Blasts on the most valuable baseball names, “Mickey Mantle’s Legs,” and extreme batted-ball changes. Topics * Why rebuilding teams should take on bad contracts * When should bad teams sign top free agents * Contract amnesty clause in MLB * Switching team allegiance to follow a player * Pitchers wearing jackets on the basepaths * Catcher development in a league with robot umpires * Maximizing playing time per hit * Most successful baseball names * Extreme changes in ground ball rates * Facing two pitchers at once * Baseball on an Olympic schedule Intro Johnny Flynn, "The Wrote & The Writ" Outro Sufjan Stevens, "We Won't Need Legs to Stand" Email Questions * Gary (Baltimore, MD): "Shouldn't rebuilding teams use the extra space in their budgets to acquire bad contracts from contending teams and get extra pieces as part of the bargain?" * Denis: "How does the added value of winning compare to for example, one or several marquee additions on a perpetual losing or non competitive team. In other words if a team had $30 million to spend and opted to sign Bryce Harper despite him adding no real chance of winning at all, is there any value to this?" * Jeff (San Francisco, CA): "I was wondering how this offseason would have been different if baseball had adopted an amnesty clause in the current CBA. A team can cut a player and have his entire salary not count towards the salary cap for the remainder of the contract." * Matt: "I was born in 1988 and have lived in Pittsburgh my entire life. Is it permissible to switch allegiance to the San Francisco Giants for the upcoming 2018 season and then return to the Pirates in 2019?" * Justin: "At what temperature does a pitcher on the bases wearing a jacket have an advantage over a non jacket wearing pitcher?" * Steven: "If MLB adopts a robot umpire system will colleges and high schools adopt these systems? If they don't will we get a glut of minor league players who were glove first catchers and now can't hit enough to keep up?" * Sean: "Let's say you make a deal with the devil to get 10 hits over a MLB season. When do you spend them to maximize your games played during the season?" * Chris: "What are the most successful baseball names?" * Adam: "In a Japanese game show one of the challenges had a left handed pitcher and right handed pitcher both on the mound and winding up but only one throwing the ball. How good would a pair of pitchers doing this need to be to perform at an average MLB level?" * Clay: "How would baseball be different if the sport operated on a schedule similar to the Olympics, with every fourth year being the only season that matters?" Stat Blast * Ben uses FanGraphs data to answer Chris' question about the first names with the highest cumulative career WAR totals. * The most successful name in MLB history is Mike with 1,862.9 WAR. There have been 439 players named Mike in MLB history. * Bill is the most common first name in MLB history. * Jeff reviews several players who have dramatically dropped their ground ball rate by 10+ percent in the last two seasons. Notes * Jeff does not find any references to jackets (and who can or cannot wear them on the bases) in the MLB official rules. * In response to Sean's question Jeff simply replies, "I'd pitch". * In 1965 Ross Moschitto played in 96 games and finished the season with 5 hits, batting 28 times. He only ever appeared as a defensive replacement. Ross had the nickname 'Mickey's Legs'. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 1164: The Names of the Game * Baseball name data Category:Episodes Category:Email Episodes